Hills: Stob Coire Sgriodain and Chno Dearg
Date: Sunday 22nd November 2015
Company: Just myself
Distance: 15.5km, Ascent: 980m
Time: 6Hrs 5Mins


It had originally been my intention to head up Leana Mhor (East) in Glen Roy yesterday. However given the terrific early morning weather, I decided I needed a longer, and higher, day on the hills instead. It was a real last-minute decision, i.e. as I was driving past Fersit, to ascend Stob Coire Sgriodain and Chno Dearg.

I knew Scoob and Fi from Walk Highlands were thinking of doing these hills so perhaps I would bump into them. As it turned out, Scoob was feeling old and needed to catch-up with his sleep so didn't venture out .

Click here to see a map of the route undertaken

Having not looked at the route or map for these hills, I set off walking along the track to the west of Loch Treig i.e. towards the Easains. I soon realised my error and backtracked to Fersit where this time I did get the map out. Again setting off from Fersit, this time in the right direction, I crossed the bridge over the River Treig and then the bridge over the railway line.

River Treig:


Just beyond Fersit, I left the main track, probably earlier than I should have, as I made my way towards Stob Coire Sgriodain. The terrain was a complete bogfest.

Heading for the hills:


I picked up a vehicle track which I followed towards Stob Coire Sgriodain and on reaching a burn I followed a snow-covered path ascending alongside the burn.

Looking back along vehicle track towards Fersit:


Sron na Garbh-bheinne:


Looking back towards Fersit:


As I made my way uphill, alongside the burn, I could see two walkers on the ridgeline above. I wondered if this was Scoob and Fi. I therefore upped my pace with a view to catching them up by taking an easier ascent line via one of several gullies between Sron na Garbh-bheinne and Stob Coire Sgriodain.

Ascent alongside a burn:


The ascent of the gully was straight-forward.

Looking back down a gully between Sron na Garbh-bheinne and Stob Coire Sgriodain:


On reaching the ridge, I was a little surprised to have overtaken who I thought might be Scoob and Fi. It turns out it wasn't Scoob and Fi from WalkHighlands but was GillC and Tomsie from WalkHighlands!

Onto the ridge between Sron na Garbh-bheinne and Stob Coire Sgriodain:


After saying hello, I cracked on ahead as I was keen to ascend the two Munro Tops as well as the two Munros.

Ascending Stob Coire Sgriodain:


View to the west during ascent of Stob Coire Sgriodain:


Loch Treig and the Easains:


I last ascended these hills in 2003 but could remember little from my previous ascent probably because the previous ascent was in poor visibility. This time the weather and visibility were excellent.

At the summit of Stob Coire Sgriodain:


My favourite view of the day was looking down to Loch Treig from the summit of Stob Coire Sgriodain.

Looking down to Loch Treig from Stob Coire Sgriodain:


View towards the end of Loch Treig and beyond:


From Stob Coire Sgriodain, I made my way across to its South Top which is a Munro Top.

Heading for Stob Coire Sgriodain (South Top):


Looking back to Stob Coire Sgriodain:


Looking back to Stob Coire Sgriodain from Stob Coire Sgriodain (South Top):


Great view from Stob Coire Sgriodain (South Top):


From the South Top, I next headed for the 924m top and beyond to the col between it and Meall Garbh.

Heading round towards Chno Dearg:


Stony ground:


Despite having ascended Meall Garbh previously, I decided to head up it again as last time I got no views.

Heading up Meall Garbh:


Looking back to Stob Coire Sgriodain:


There are two cairns on Meall Garbh; the summit cairn is the more distant one.

Heading out to the summit cairn of Meall Garbh:


View from the summit of Meall Garbh:


There were no footprints at the summit of Meall Garbh apart from my own. No Munro Top baggers out in past two days.

As I made my way back towards Chno Dearg, I could see GillC and Tomsie, with two companions they had met in the hostel, ahead.

Ascent of Chno Dearg:


Looking back to Meall Garbh:


Fantastic views to the west:


Looking back to Meall Garbh:


I caught-up with GillC and Tomsie at the summit of Chno Dearg where this time we had a longer chat.

At the summit of Chno Dearg:


From the summit, I could see a pointy isolated hill. It has to be Schiehallion!

A distant Schiehallion (zoom):


View towards Loch Laggan and Binnein Shuas:


From the summit, we made our way down the snow-covered slopes and soon split up as we took different lines of descent.

Lots of hills to the north:


The initial descent was fairly good however as I got further down the terrain was again bogfest.

Descent towards Fersit:


Looking back to Stob Coire Sgriodain and Chno Dearg:


I got back to the car around 15:15, the round having taken circa 6 hours. I must be getting slow in my old age as my log from 2003 shows my previous round took 4.5 hours.

An enjoyable round apart from the bog.